Little Lies
by The Writer On the Wall
Summary: Provenza confronts Andy for being inappropriate...


"Andy!" An angry voice startled the Lieutenant, who was by himself in the deserted break room. He turned his head quickly towards the door to see Provenza slamming it shut with flaring eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Andy wasn't expecting it at all. The division had just closed another tough murder case of a child, and they were all pretty low on energy. Each squad member found a corner to be alone with their thoughts. It was their own way of restoring strength after an emotional day at work. Writing up the case report was always a good excuse for that alone time, but Andy couldn't sit at his desk anymore. He went to the break room for coffee, thinking it might have the same effect.

And there was Provenza, violating that sacred time Andy took for himself.

"This has _got_ to stop right now! It's not funny or cute anymore!" Provenza's voice was loud, almost a shout. He sounded very stern, as if he was reprimanding a child for doing something very bad.

"Are you talking about your career?" Andy snickered and sipped from his mug.

Provenza squinted at him, turning redder by the second.

"I don't think you should make jokes about that," he lowered his voice to a threatening level, "you're being inappropriate and it could cost you your career."

"I'm being inappropriate because… I'm drinking coffee?" Andy still had no idea what had come over his partner, but he was starting to take him seriously. Provenza was obviously very upset about whatever Andy did.

"Stop acting so innocent. I know about you and… _Sharon_," he emphasized her name to denounce the way Andy used her first name on a regular basis.

Andy stared at him, lost for words. He had never verbalized how he felt towards their Captain, and he didn't understand how had Provenza figured it out.

"What are you talking about?" he could barely master his voice to sound steady.

"I know that you've been seeing someone, and we both know that it's the Captain," Provenza said quietly. He had no intention of getting his friend in trouble over this. In fact, that was exactly what he was trying to prevent with this conversation.

"You're crazy," Andy felt the control over his body coming back to him.

"Oh, come on! I've seen the way you look at her! How long have I known you, Andy? Don't try to lie to me; I know every trick up your sleeve."

"Okay, look, I'll admit…" Andy started. Provenza's eyebrows rose in expectation. "I do think she's attractive. That's probably what you mean by 'the way I look at her'. But I'm not _seeing_ her," he snorted at Provenza's accusation.

"I know you, Andy. You can't convince me that you're not in a relationship!" Provenza started to feel offended by Andy's evasive attitude. He saw it as a complete disrespect to him and their friendship.

Andy sighed and dropped his eyes to his shoes for a moment, knowing that he had no other choice but to tell him.

"Fine. I didn't want anyone to know yet, 'cause it's only just begun, but… I _have_ been seeing someone."

"Someone?" Provenza pushed.

"Not Sharon, okay?! You don't know her."

Provenza squinted once again, trying to determine whether Andy was being honest with him. He decided to make it harder for him by pushing for more details.

"Who is she?"

"She's… she's a lawyer… a defense lawyer," Andy said in defeat. He knew how much grief he was going to get from his squad for dating a defense lawyer – which was the worst type of lawyers in the eyes of every police officer.

"Oh," Provenza wasn't expecting that answer. Now Andy's secrecy about the subject made sense to him.

"She's nothing like Sharon, alright? She's younger and blond… you know my type." Andy could tell Provenza finally believed him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know your damn type," Provenza's voice turned back to its usual grumpy tone.

"I'm actually waiting for her to meet me here so we can go to dinner together." Andy said, relieved. He didn't like fighting with his best friend.

"When are you going to introduce her to me?" Provenza asked.

"I don't know. Give me time to make sure it's going somewhere," Andy shrugged. He knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it once he admitted to Provenza how much in love he really was with this woman, who had stolen his heart right under his nose. By the time he realized it, he was too far gone and it was too late to do anything to try and prevent it. He wasn't ready to confess this to his partner just yet.

"Okay, well… good luck, I guess." Provenza sounded completely defeated. He hated losing an argument, but there was nothing he could do to win this one. Andy was seeing a woman and there was nothing wrong with it.

He turned to the door with a distracted expression on his face.

Andy watched him, trying to figure out what was going on in his head.

"I'm going home. Everyone else has gone, too," and with that, Provenza left the break room, still pretty befuddled.

Andy took another sip from his coffee, but it was already cold. He poured it down the sink and followed the path of Provenza, who was already gone.

The murder room was quiet and empty. Everyone had indeed left. Everyone but one woman, who was sitting by herself on one of the chairs, waiting for him. She looked up when she heard his footsteps. The sight of him made her smile, even after this long, hard day. He was definitely a sight for sore eyes.

Her sad smile gave him a weird, burning sensation in his arms, as if they were on fire and the only thing that could sooth them was her body.

"Are you okay?" she noticed something in his expression, but she wasn't sure what it was. Sadness? Worry?

"Provenza knows I'm seeing someone and he interrogated me about it. I told him I was seeing a beautiful blond," he smiled teasingly.

She got on her feet, not sure how to take his words. "Are you saying you want me to go blond?" she squinted in a fake curiosity.

"Oh, no. Please don't change anything about yourself," he smiled again, but this time he wasn't teasing her.

She looked down for a moment, too embarrassed to look in his eyes. They both kept quiet, which made the moment worse.

"So…" he finally spoke and she realized she had stopped breathing for about 30 seconds or so. "Dinner at your place or mine tonight?"

"Mine. I have the place to myself for a few hours," she was fully aware of the fact that they were both already thinking about dessert.

"After you," he waited for her to start walking.

Sharon smiled at him as she passed very close to him, and continued to walk to the elevator with Andy just a few inches behind her, like he always was.


End file.
